DPS: 18-wheeler in deadly Thanksgiving Day pileup was going 65 mph

By Sarah Moore

Updated 4:57 pm, Wednesday, December 18, 2013

The 18-wheeler that hit an SUV driven by a Pearland couple during a Thanksgiving Day pile up wreck last year was going about 65 mph on impact, Department of Public Safety Sgt. Chuck Havard testified during the third day of testimony in a trial stemming from that wreck.

The couple, Debra and Vincent Leggio, were killed and their children are suing CR England trucking company and the truck's driver.

Havard said evidence indicated that the driver, Richardo Kerr, appeared to put on the brakes about the same time his truck hit the Leggios' Chevrolet Suburban.

Defense lawyer Darrell Barger focused on Vincent Leggio's negligence that caused him to hit a car ahead of him on the road.

The amount of fog and how, when and where it occurred were also subject to dispute during testimony.

In the first day of testimony, Kerr said conditions had been clear before fog suddenly blew in just before the wreck. On Tuesday, Casey Cator, who had been driving a pickup behind Kerr from Houston until shortly before the wreck, testified that fog had been almost constant on that stretch of road, breaking only once for a brief stretch near Winnie.

Havard testified Wednesday that fog had been patchy, based on information gleaned from the state troopers who were taking witness statements and weather bulletins.

However, he said fog couldn't be blamed for accidents.

"Fog does not cause crashes," he testified, adding that although weather can be a factor in accidents, the blame goes to drivers who go too fast for conditions, which he said both Leggio and Kerr were.

One difference between the two was that Kerr was driving an 18-wheeler, and Leggio was in an ordinary passenger car, Ferguson said.